Diego Garcia - 以前还真不知道有这个地方

真精不怕火恋

知识贴，但愿别让某些人 high 起来

迪戈加西亚岛真正的主人回家了                       
http://www.sina.com.cn
2007年05月15日15:39  央视《世界周刊》

录像请见：
http://www.cctv.com/video/shijiezhoukan/2006/12/shijiezhoukan_300_20061201_3.shtml


央视《世界周刊》2006年11月28日播出节目“迪戈加西亚岛真正的主人回家了”，以下为节目内容：
　　迪戈加西亚岛，印度洋中部查戈斯群岛中最大的岛屿。 2003年3月20号，伊拉克战争爆发。一架又一架美军B-52轰炸机从这里起飞，目标：伊拉克。
　　迪戈加西亚岛，是美军最重要的海外军事基地之一。在这里，美军驻兵1700多名，储备了大量作战物资。近四十年来，全副武装的美军是迪戈加西亚岛惟一的居民。世界似乎早就忘记了在美军到来之前，这里到底有没有人烟？但是，就在不久前，英国高等法院作出裁决，迪戈加西亚岛真正的主人可以回家了！
　　这是一桩打了数十年的官司。即将回到迪戈加西亚岛的人，叫伊洛伊斯人。40年前，他们曾经悠闲自得地生活在整个查戈斯群岛上。但40年来，他们有家难回。如今，这场旷日持久的官司终于有了结果，一个被刻意掩盖了40年的骗局也慢慢浮出水面。
　　班考特，伊洛伊斯人，居住在毛里求斯。从他懂事的时候起就知道，毛里求斯不是家乡。他的家乡是1900公里之外的查戈斯群岛。
　　1966年，班考特的父母和邻居们接到英国当局的通知，要他们立即搬到毛里求斯和塞舌尔。祖祖辈辈生活在这里的伊洛伊斯人拒绝搬迁。英国当局采取强制措施，切断了群上生活必需品的运输，还出动轰炸机威胁要对不肯离开的岛民使用武力。
　　英国当局宣称，搬家是为了让他们过上更好的生活。最后，威逼利诱下，伊洛伊斯人不得不搬家。然而到了毛里求斯后，伊洛伊斯人才发现，这里既没有像样的房子，也没有体面的工作。等待伊洛伊斯人的只有贫穷和无尽的孤独。
　　从1966年到1973年，英国当局通过种种手段陆续将查戈斯群岛上的大约2000名居民迁走。遭遇飞来横祸的伊洛伊斯人怎么也想不明白，为什么英国要这样大动干戈。1961年，两名男子大步走上迪戈加西亚岛的堤坝。其中一位是美国海军的格兰瑟姆少将。他是一支美国先遣队的负责人。这两位不速之客的到来，没有引起伊洛伊斯人的特别注意，然而，他们却改变了伊洛伊斯人的命运。
　　20世纪60年代初，冷战正酣。为了争夺印度洋和整个中东地区的战略优势，美国急需在印度洋上建立一个大型军事基地。格兰瑟姆少将的任务正是寻找一座适合建立军事基地的岛屿。从登上迪戈加西亚岛的那一刻起，他就相中了这个条件优越的小岛。
　　为了建立军事基地，美国要求英国必须“使整个查戈斯群岛没有1个人，只有海鸥”。
　　1964年2月，英美政府代表绕过各自的议会在伦敦举行秘密会议，做出了最后决定。不过，要做成这桩交易，还得解决一个问题。因为当时查戈斯群岛并不是英国直接领地，而只是英国殖民地毛里求斯的一部分。为了把查戈斯群岛顺利从毛里求斯手里移交给美国，英国可以说费尽了心思。
　　1964年4月，英国殖民大臣格林伍德飞往毛里求斯。他代表英国政府提出，允许毛里求斯独立。尽管联合国1514号决议已经规定，所有的殖民地居民都享有无条件获得独立的固有权利，但格林伍德还是附加了条件。那就是：要让英国继续拥有查戈斯群岛。后来，英国付出了300万英镑贿赂金，外带保证让毛里求斯的糖制品享受优惠关税。查尔莱西亚的家园就这样给“卖掉”了。
　　不过，英国当局知道，如果外界知道伊洛伊斯人被强制搬迁，肯定会引起轩然大波。
　　“我们知道他们中有一小部人在迪戈加西亚出生，但不能由此断言他们就是永久的居民。当然，他们永久地居住在这里，我们十分欢迎，但由于岛上一切东西都要被征用，对他们来说，搬走可能是最好的选择。”
　　这是1965年11月10号英国外交部发给驻美使馆的绝密电报中应付媒体质问的口径。
　　当时，没有太多人关心发生在印度洋小岛上的事情，英国当局的谎言掩盖了事实。
　　1966年，美英签署协议，迪戈加西亚岛被英国“租借”给五角大楼，期限50年，随后可自动延长20年。而英国也得到了回报，在购买 “北极星”潜射核导弹时，少付了1500万美元。
　　就这样，伊洛伊斯人成为大国交易的牺牲品。在查戈斯群岛，生活是简单的：有自己的房子，在海上打鱼，亲近自然。在毛里求斯就要出去找工作，但到处都是失业者，而他们除了打鱼之外并无一技之长。因此，几十年来，伊洛伊斯人没有一天不盼望重回查戈斯群岛。现在，对于岛民们来说，颠沛流离40年的生活眼看就要到头了。然而，他们回家的路似乎注定就是不平坦的。
　　2000年，班考特代表查戈斯岛民在英国高等法院提起诉讼。英国高等法院的法官很快做出裁决：“大规模迁移这些岛屿居民的行为是可耻的法律失败，是荒谬而不合法的”！
　　这让班考特他们欣喜不已。
　　然而，2003年10月，法院又裁定，伊洛伊斯人不能因为被强制迁移而向英国政府追讨赔偿。2004年6月，英女王伊丽莎白二世颁布“枢密院令”，维持禁止岛民回岛居住的禁令。于是，班考特又上诉，要求裁决女王的行为无效。不久前，英国高等法院再次作出裁决：查戈斯群岛居民胜诉。但由于这并不是最终裁决，裁决会不会又出现新的变故，谁都不敢说。
　　另外，目前还有一些环境学家给查戈斯群岛居民回家设置了新的障碍。他们认为，伊洛伊斯人重返迪戈加西亚岛会过量捕捞，破坏世界上仅存的一块完好的海洋生态系统。
　　40年来，凭借迪戈加西亚岛上的军事基地，美国和北约在印度洋以及中东地区长期拥有军事优势。然而，伊洛伊斯人背井离乡的困苦境地却没有丝毫改变。如今，伊洛伊斯人又一次离家近了一点儿，这一次，希望他们真的能返回魂牵梦系的故乡。

真精不怕火恋

迪戈加西亚岛　Diego Garcia

http://zh.allmetsat.com/airports/indian-ocean.php?icao=FJDG

　　印度洋中部查戈斯群岛的主岛。在南纬7°20′、东经72°25′，距南亚次大陆最南端1，900多公里。位处好望角、新加坡、红海、澳大利亚间多条航路的会合点，战略地位十分重要。陆地面积约27平方公里。人口约4，500，主要为军事设施服务和从事渔业、采集椰子、龟壳与制盐。全岛为向北开阔的V字形珊瑚环礁，中央潟湖长24公里，宽6.4公里，是天然良港。1532年葡萄牙人迪戈加西亚到达，1810年被英国占领，为英属毛里求斯属地， 1965年成为英属印度洋领地的一部分。向为远洋轮船的燃料补给站。第二次世界大战期间曾为英国空军基地和重要海军停泊港。1966年英美签订协议后，成为美国在印度洋的重要海空军基地。还建有现代化的军火库和通讯中心。
　　印度洋中部查戈斯群岛(Chagos Archipelago)最大和最南端的珊瑚岛。面积约27平方公里(10.5平方哩)，包含一个V字形、外缘有沙的砂礁，长约24平方公里(15平方哩)，最宽处约11平方公里(7平方哩)，还有一座潟湖向北端敞开。
　　16世纪初为葡萄牙人发现。历史上大部分时期属模里西斯。1965年脱离模里西斯成为英属印度洋领地之一部。早年椰仁乾生产为仅有的经济活动，1970年代初最後一批种植园的劳工及其家人被迁至模里西斯，以帮助美国发展军事通讯设施，这是美国根据 1966年英美协议建立的。70年代末和80年代，此岛发展为海空军基地，因而激起那些希望印度洋地区为非军事化地区的该区沿海国家的强烈反对。在波斯湾战争(1990∼1991)、美国带头攻击阿富汗(2001)和伊拉克战争初始阶段(2003)期间，有许多次是从迪戈加西亚发动空中作战。
　　1990年代末，来自查戈斯群岛(包括迪戈加西亚)的岛民要求重返家园，2000年英国法庭裁决1971年要他们离开该岛的禁令是不合法的。不过，英美官员仍然反对他们再回来定居的企图。

真精不怕火恋

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/diego-garcia.htm
Diego Garcia "Camp Justice" 7º20'S 72º25'E

Diego Garcia is a British territory mostly populated by the US military, the British colony that's been colonised by the Americans. Normally the island is home to about 1,700 military personnel and 1,500 civilian contractors. But only about 50 troops are British. The island is used jointly by the Navy and the Air Force. Though the Navy contingent is larger, the Air Force does the flying.

Diego Garcia is a narrow tropical jungle reef in the Indian Ocean, about 1,000 miles south of the southern India coast. Despite the tropical feel to the reef, this is no Margaritaville. It's more of a stationary aircraft carrier. Diego Garcia is exclusively a military reservation located on a small host country atoll in the Chagos Archipelago.

A tropical footprint-shaped island just 7 degrees south of the equator, Diego Garcia is heavily vegetated. The island covers 6,720 acres in area with a maximum height of 22 feet and an average elevation of four feet above sea level. The shoreline is about 40 miles long and the island encloses a lagoon 6.5 miles wide and 13 miles long.
Diego Garcia History

Diego Garcia was discovered by Portuguese explorers in the early 1500s. It is the largest of fifty-two islands which form the Chagos Archipelago, located in the heart of the Indian Ocean. The island's name is believed to have come from either the ship's captain or the navigator on that early voyage of discovery.

In 1965, with the formation of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), Diego Garcia was under the administrative control of the British government of the Seychelles. In 1976, the Seychelles gained independence from England and the BIOT became a self-administering territory under the East African Desk of the British Foreign Office. The Crown's representative on island, the British Representative (BRITREP), acts as both Justice of the Peace and Commanding Officer of the Royal Naval Party 1002.

In the 1960's, America's naval policy in the Indian Ocean had many ingredients. The foremost was to deter Russia from interrupting the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf countries to America and Europe. Politically, this entailed American support of Iran to counter Russian influence in Iraq. It entailed maintaining a naval presence in the Persian Gulf, and wherever possible, in the countries on the rim of the Indian Ocean, not only to secure the sea lines of communication which criss-crossed the Indian Ocean but also to inject military force from seaward when required. By 1968, the American Navy had effected the necessary adjustments in its global naval deployments.

In 1968, Britain announced its intention to withdraw from East of Suez by 1971 and generated debate on "the Vacuum in the Indian Ocean". Russia's naval presence in the Indian Ocean increased to keep pace with the American naval presence.

America felt that Russia was articulating anxiety to forestall American naval deployment. The Russians on the other hand, felt that the establishing of communication facilities in Diego Garcia and in Northwest Cape in Australia could be interpreted clearly as reflecting an intention to deploy submarines in the Indian Ocean whose ballistic missiles were targeted on Russia.

Fears of a naval vacuum in the Indian Ocean were soon overtaken by fears of the militarisation of the Indian Ocean. America neither denied nor acknowledged the deployment of submarine launched ballistic missiles. The Russian Navy started showing its flag in the Indian Ocean, partly to fill the naval vacuum, partly to counter the American Navy and partly to demonstrate to the littoral states that the Russian Navy was a force to contend with. Since Russia lacked naval bases in the Indian Ocean, an anchorage was developed off Socotra near the Gulf of Aden. Overall, there was a steady increase in the presence of American and Russian naval ships.

In 1969, American President Nixon's "Twin Pillar" strategy entrusted the security of the Persian Gulf region to the monarchies in Iran and Saudi Arabia. America started heavily arming both countries under the Nixon Doctrine. In 1970, the Russians became active in the Dhofar rebellion in Oman, which was a Persian Gulf choke-point. These moves towards militarisation of the Indian Ocean triggered countermoves to make the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace. And both these moves and countermoves had to take into account the overall American hyper-sensitivity regarding West Asian oil supplies.

Until 1971, Diego Garcia's main source of income was from the profitable copra oil plantation. At one time, copra oil from here and the other "Oil Islands" provided fine machine oil and fuel to light European lamps. During the roughly 170 years of plantation life, coconut harvests on Diego Garcia remained fairly constant, at about four million nuts annually. The plantation years ended with the arrival of the U.S. military construction.

On 23 January 1971, a nine man advance party from NMCB-40 landed on Diego Garcia to initiate a preliminary survey for beach landing areas. Fifty additional Seabees from Amphibious Construction Battalion Two landed on the island and marked underwater obstructions, installed temporary navigational aids and cleared beach areas for landing additional personnel and materials. On 20 March 1971, an additional party of 160 Seabees from NMCB-40 arrived. Construction for U.S. Naval Communication Facility Diego Garcia was started four days later by the Seabees from NMCB-1 and finished by NMCB-62. The Seabees also started construction of an interim runway - to support the Communication Facility.

In October and November of 1971, Detachment CHAGOS of NMCB 71 and the whole of NMCB 1 arrived, marking the beginning of large-scale construction. NMCB 1 built the transmitter and receiver buildings and placed the base course for the permanent runway and parking apron. In July 1972, NMCB 62 relieved NMCB-1 and took over the departing battalion's projects. On 25 December the first C-141J transport landed on the newly completed 6,000 foot runway with the Bob Hope Christmas Troupe.

During December 1972, a Pre-commissioning Detachment arrived to prepare the Naval Communication Station for operations. On 20 March, 1973 U.S. Naval Communication Station, Diego Garcia was commissioned. The setting was sparse, but communications have been "UP" ever since. The communications facility was later changed to Naval Computer and Telecommunication Station (NCTS) in October of 1991.

Work commenced on the second construction increment, a $6.1 million project which involved the construction of a ship channel and turning basin in the lagoon. This project, however, was contracted to a Taiwanese firm. Seabees continued to work on support and personnel facilities in the cantonment area at the northern tip of the atoll. The second major area of construction was the airfield and its supporting facilities. Revised requirements called for the extension of the original 8,000-foot runway to 12,000 feet and additions were made to the parking apron and taxiways. New hangars and other support facilities were also built. During 1973 and 1974, Seabee units worked on all these projects. Because the final mission of Diego Garcia was still evolving, it was clear that still more construction would take place in the years to come.

In 1975 and 1976, Congress authorized $28.6 million to expand the Diego Garcia facilities to provide minimal logistics support for U.S. task groups operating in the Indian Ocean. Additional projects were undertaken in 1978. World events in 1979 and 1980, however, forced a reevaluation of the U.S. defense posture in the Indian Ocean area which indicated the need for pre-positioned materials to support a rapid deployment force and a more active U.S. presence in the area. It was decided to further expand the facilities at Diego Garcia in order to provide support for several pre-positioned ships, loaded with critical supplies. By the end of 1980 the Naval Facilities Engineering Command had advertised a $100 million contract for initial dredging at Diego Garcia to expand the berthing facilities.

Thus, what began as simply a communication station on a remote atoll became a major fleet and U.S. armed forces support base by the 1980s. By 1983 the only Seabee unit remaining on Diego Garcia was a detachment of NMCB 62. The work the Seabees completed on Diego Garcia since 1971 represented the largest peacetime construction effort in their history. Diego Garcia was the major Seabee construction effort of the 1970s and they acquitted themselves well under the difficult and isolated conditions that exist here. When the Seabees arrived they lived in tent camps, when they departed they left a fully-developed, modern military facility, capable of supporting thousands of U.S. personnel.

Navy Support Facility Diego Garcia was established 1 October 1977, after six years as a Navy communications station. Known as the "Footprint of Freedom," it plays a primary role in support of U.S. military units operating in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf. Diego Garcia is a British Indian Ocean Territory. The island's only occupants are NSF personnel and tenants. Most of the approximately 3,500 people are third country nationals working under the large base operating support (BOS) contract. In addition to a regularly deployed VP squadron, major activities include a Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station, maritime prepositioning ships anchored in the lagoon, Military Sealift Command, and COMPSRON TWO (which controls the MSC ships). The Air Force and Army also maintain support elements on the island.

A major change to the island organizational structure occurred with the establishment of the Navy Support Facility (NSF) on October 1, 1977. Commanding Officer, NSF, assumed all duties and responsibilities previously assigned to the Island Commander. The nucleus for NSF came from the original Communication Station enlisted and officer allowances. All billets, other than those dedicated to communications support, were transferred to CO, NSF, who is responsible for maintaining and operating facilities and providing services and materials in support of several tenant shore activities and units of the operating forces. Following the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in 1979, Diego Garcia saw the most dramatic build-up of any location since the Vietnam War era. In 1986, Diego Garcia became fully operational with the completion of a $500 million construction program.

The 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait marked the most intense operational period in Diego Garcia's history. From 1 August 1990 to 28 February 1991, NAVSUPPFAC Diego Garcia achieved and maintained the highest degree of operational readiness and provided levels of support which outstripped all contingency planning. As the base population doubled almost overnight, with the deployment of a Strategic Air Command Bombardment Wing and other aviation detachments, workload base-wide increased from 300-2000% over peacetime levels with no personnel augmentation. Diego Garcia became the only US Navy base that launched offensive air operations during Operation Desert Storm and Diego Garcia remains a vital link in the US defense structure.

Det 1, 13th Air Force, is responsible for operating and maintaining a Southwest Asia contingency base on Diego Garcia in support of CINCCENTCOM OPLANs. Provides facilities, munitions, vehicles, Aerospace Ground Equipment, supplies and aviation fuel to sustain deployed bomber and tanker sortie operations.

The 36th Civil Engineer Squadron sent a 24-person Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force detachment to Naval Support Facility, Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territories, in June 2000. The team left Andersen seven weeks ago to complete some construction work as part of the Air Force's Bomber Forward Operating Location initiative. Members from Pacific Air Forces Headquarters and 36th CES identified five requirements for the team, including: constructing a land mobile radio repeater facility, constructing supply and maintenance secure storage rooms, repairing tent city electrical system, constructing a generator pad and testing grounding points on the south ramp.

The mission of putting bombs on target almost 4,000 miles away in Afghanistan is comparable to flying from Chicago to Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Success falls on the backs of bomber and aerial refueling aircraft that commute together from the tropics to Afghanistan. Coalition aircraft at Diego Garcia dropped more ordnance on Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan than any other unit during the war on terror.

Force members live in tents, which cyclones occasionally threaten to throw into the sea - or on a merchant ship that leaves residents with sea legs once they get back on shore.
The B-2 Shelters

In mid-September 2002 it was reported that the US had requested permission to build special shelters for four to six B-2 bombers at Diego Garcia. The portable climate-controlled shelters take about a month to erect. According to American Spaceframe Fabricators, the contractor that designed and constructed the B-2 Shelter System, two shelters had been constructed by late November and two additional structures would not be completed until June 2003 due to lack of existing concrete foundation.
The Island

As the United Kingdom owns the island, there are British Representatives on Diego Garcia, responsible for law and order on the island. The British Representative, or BritRep, acts as the Commanding Officer for Naval Party 1002, as well as the local magistrate and judge for all legal matters dealing with British law. Under his cognizance are the British customs personnel, Royal Overseas Police Officers (ROPOs) and a compliment of Royal Marines, who patrol and protect the entire BIOT.

Probably the place's prickliest subject is the issue of the 1,200 to 2,000 members of the Ilois, former inhabitants the British moved off the island in the late 1960s. They now live 1,200 miles away on the isle of Mauritus. As the descendants of workers who arrived on the island in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they had lived there for several generations. But U.S. and British government texts refer to them merely as temporary workers, not indigenous inhabitants. Before those colonial workers, apparently no one ever settled there. The U.S. lease expires in 2016, and the Ilois are making plans return to turn the place into a sugarcane and fishing enterprise.

Just getting to the site is a challenge in itself - the sandy ridge has no other land within 1,000 miles with India to the north, Madagascar to the west, Indonesia to the east and nothing but Antarctica way to the south. The only way in and out is through government ships or planes.

Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) formed in 1965 from territory belonging formerly to Mauritius and the Seychelles. The island is one of 52 in the Chagos Archipelago, which extends over an area of 10,000 square miles. The archipelago is located in the heart of the Indian Ocean, south of India and between Africa and Indonesia. The tropical island is a narrow coral atoll with a land area of about eleven square miles, nearly enclosing a lagoon. Its configuration is that of a "V" drawn by a shaky hand. The island stretches 37 miles from tip to tip, with an opening to the north-northwest. Three small islands dot the mouth of the lagoon which is approximately 13 miles long and up to 6 miles wide. The lagoon is from sixty to one hundred feet deep with numerous coral heads in most areas. Shallow reefs surround the island on the ocean side, as well as in the lagoon. The island's mean height above sea level is 4 feet.

Diego Garcia is the largest of many atolls that form the Chagos Archipelago. The horseshoe- shaped atoll is located seven degrees south of the equator in the North Central Region of the Indian Ocean. It is heavily vegetated, has a land area of 6,720 acres and is 37 miles long, tip- to-tip. The maximum elevation is 22 feet, with an average elevation of four feet above sea level. The enclosed lagoon is approximately seven miles wide and thirteen miles long. The three small islands at the mouth of the lagoon and the shape of the atoll give the impression of a footprint, hence the term "Footprint of Freedom".

Annual rainfall averages 102 inches with the heaviest precipitation occurring during October to February. Humidity remains high throughout the year and temperatures are generally in the upper-80's Fahrenheit by day, falling to the mid-70's by night. The almost constant breezes keep conditions reasonably comfortable.

The atoll has been used primarily for the harvesting of coconuts from which coconut oil and copra were processed. It has also been a coal station and guano mining was carried out for a brief period.

Britain granted independence in the 1950s and 1960s to many of its former colonies in the Indian Ocean. The remaining islands were joined under the title of the British Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT), Diego Garcia being one of these islands. The British and United States Government agreements allowed the US access to part of the island to construct a communication station and subsequently a Naval Support Facility. The British do not charge the US any rent.

Diego Garcia is an unaccompanied tour area; concurrent travel of dependents is not authorized. Furnished BOQ is available upon arrival. Medical and dental facilities may be inadequate and may require treatment at distant locations. Since the BOQ is fully furnished, shipment of household goods into Diego Garcia is limited to one thousand pounds of personal items. Appliances, television, bed, and furniture is provided. EML is available to Singapore. Military flights are the only authorized flights in and out of Diego Garcia to Singapore. Commercial and military flights are available from Singapore. Facilities include a gymnasium, clubs, galley, Ship's Store, library, Post Office, Navy Federal Credit Union, Community Bank, and chapel.

This spectacular location east of equatorial Africa -- where a 30-minute bus tour can show you the entire location -- holds elements of an adventure vacationer's dream. There's tropical windsurfing and fishing for 200-pound marlin. While it's no Pebble Beach, playing the 9-hole golf course is free -- and a hoot to do with no shoes on. And the sea is so warm, snorklers can wade in and play tourist with thousands of brilliantly colored tropical fish.

Diego Garcia, the southernmost island in the Chagos Archipelago and a part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, is centrally located in the Indian Ocean. It is a narrow atoll 39 miles long that nearly encloses a lagoon 13 miles long and up to 6 miles wide. Depths in the lagoon range from 60 to 100 ft; numerous coral heads extend toward the surface and form hazards to navigation. Shallow reefs surround the island on the ocean side as well as within the lagoon. The new channel and anchorage area are dredged to 45 feet (mean low water springs), and the old turning basin can also be used if depth is sufficient for ship type.

Diego Garcia is not a typhoon haven. The surrounding topography is low and does not provide an extensive wind break. Expected winds of 60 kt or greater justify a sortie to the north of all ships in the lagoon. With expected winds around 35-40 kt, sortie is not recommended. Small harbor craft can be moored at existing pier structures and larger ships can be anchored in the lee anchorage. In the past 30 years, the island has not been seriously affected by a severe tropical cyclone even though it is threatened about once a year. The maximum sustained wind associated with a tropical cyclone in the past 30 years at Diego Garcia has been approximately 40 kt.